Woman Shares What Helped Her To Create The Life She Has Now By Advising People To “Work On The Weekends”, Sparks A Debate On Twitter
Inspector Harold Francis Callahan from Dirty Harry once said “Opinions are like a@#holes, everyone’s got one.” I mean, everyone’s got the right to one, it just so happens there’s a piece of anatomy to equate it to when it comes to proving a point. Language is fun.
Anywho, this includes unpopular opinions as well. Like one shared by Twitter user Jordan Kong (@ImNotJK) who shared that “the best thing young people can do early in their careers is to work on the weekends.”
This, in turn, started a huge debate—mostly a one-sided one, disagreeing with the statement, but some did see some sense in it, supporting the idea.
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They say that if you wanna get somewhere in the world, you gotta work hard to do it
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So, a week ago, Jordan Kong tweeted out what she called an unpopular opinion, effectively urging young people to work weekends during the earlier parts of their careers.
The idea seemingly stemmed from the premise that young people have less commitments, more time, and ample energy to be invested into their futures by working harder now.
One woman extended this to working harder during the earlier days of one’s career in her unpopular opinion on Twitter
Image credits: ImNotJK
This in turn sparked a bit of a debate among tweeters
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Another tweeter elaborated upon it, supporting the idea since young people have next to no experience, knowledge and reputation when it comes to their career, so their best asset is hard work.
Well, while some supported Jordan’s idea, most were against it, for a number of reasons—the first and foremost of which was that it encouraged people to effectively overwork themselves, supposedly for little to no pay in response to that.
Jordan elaborated more in the form of replies to people discussing the topic
Image credits: ImNotJK
Image credits: ImNotJK
Image credits: ImNotJK
Image credits: ImNotJK
Others pointed out that while this has positives, the negatives will surely come in time—negatives like health issues due to overworking, issues with being able to set healthy boundaries, all the while allowing bosses and managers to blur the line between a healthy employee culture and optimized (maximized) profits. And then there were those who said it’s not an unpopular—but rather a bad—opinion.
Needless to say, this started a huge debate. Granted, it’s leaning more to the side of those against it, arguing it’s not healthy, but there were definitely those who understood the reasoning behind the hustle.
For the most part, people were against this idea of working weekends when you’re young
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Besides Jordan responding to some of the tweets she got from those joining the debate, just yesterday (a week after her original post), she also elaborated on what she said previously.
Others were of a different opinion
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In a nutshell, Jordan explained that she came from a poor immigrant family; working hard was her only key to success. Work wasn’t all rainbows and butterflies, but despite that, she found joy and purpose.
She did reach a point where it became taxing health-wise, but despite all of it, she came out victorious, and she still wouldn’t trade any of it as she outworked her peers and earned opportunities that were “typically reserved for white guys who went to Harvard and Stanford,” and not “an introverted, short, nerdy Asian female.”
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But that’s her. She saw success in hard work as she saw this in her colleagues and that’s what worked for her since the early days. Might not work for everyone, though.
A week after her original tweet, she elaborated on her opinion with a thread
Image credits: ImNotJK
Image credits: ImNotJK
Image credits: ImNotJK
Image credits: ImNotJK
Image credits: ImNotJK
Image credits: ImNotJK
Image credits: ImNotJK
Image credits: ImNotJK
The tweet gained some modest virality, gaining a bit over 16,000 likes and the same amount of quoted tweets, with also making some headlines and even being quoted on Imgur, where it gained nearly 4,000 upvotes with over 128,000 views. If anything, it stirred quite a bit of a discussion among tweeters.
You can read the whole thread here. But before you go, what are your thoughts about this? Share your thoughts and your experience with work in the comment section below!
I definitely definitely disagree.... it's not about how much time free time you have... you create a pattern at a workplace and it's difficult to take it back! It won't be appreciated all the time and you know what you are doing? Making it difficult for the next generations! I can't even count how many employers have asked me to work more, to work on weekends, to work without days off, you know why? Because there was a worker before me that used to do that! No! My free time is valuable and i don't give it away for more experience that's just the cheese on the trap! Don't do that it's not worth it and it doesn't make you more productive anyway and there are plenty of studies that prove that!
And they expect to not pay you overtime, which in the US is technically illegal but they don't tell employees that. Fortunately for me (unfortunately for a former employer), I did know. Got my OT after I'd quit, and no regrets. You want me there extra? PAY ME. Otherwise it's eroding the rights of workers, and encouraging the idea that "career" equals "identity"....
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I think she's confusing desire vs effort. Working weekends because you think you need to (or because the workload is so high that you have to) is much different than working weekends because you love the job or believe in the company and want to make it successful. And there's no guarantee that hard work will pay off -- one of my first jobs was at an internet startup -- I worked a *lot* of extra hours, but the work was fun and enjoyable, and I ended up socializing a lot with my coworkers, so I wasn't really missing out on social interactions), but that company ended up running out of money and going out of business, so all of that hard work was for nothing... but I don't regret it, that was one of my most fun jobs.
Hear hear. I’ve bosses who had “drive.” Really it was more of a compulsion for busyness. They worked long hours and liked to see other people working long hours but we never got ahead of the curve and there was never interest in making things efficient—it was like they measured productivity by how quickly our tires spun in the mud, and not by the speed of our forward direction.
Load More Replies...
I was told by someone that constantly working outside of your set hours demonstrates that you're not able to manage your time properly. I think people also need to realise that what motivates or is viewed as success by one person is not necessarily the same in everyone - and that's perfectly alright
^^^ This. I had a coworker years ago who worked evenings and weekends and sneered at the rest of us for going home at 5:00. But he did almost no work during the actual working day, preferring to talk/rant non-stop about his pet peeves. He literally never shut up, so of course he had to come in on weekends to get his projects finished.
Load More Replies...
I work every single weekend on purpose. My "weekend" is either tuesday/wednesday or wednesday/thursday. Two days off in a row mid week is a thousand times better than saturday/sunday. Plus i don't have to take extra days in order to make appointments for things.
Used to work shifts. Hated the suspicious looks from retirees. Love weekend social hobbies.
Load More Replies... 
Someone who by her own words worked herself into early onset diabetes.
Load More Replies... It's great to work for a good-paying career, but there's a fine line between working hard for something and spending your entire life working. All the people I know who worked every weekend and said you should work on weekends all the time either got burnt out, are stressed out all the time, or are self-medicating with drugs and alcohol. I've not met a single person who ignored breaks who didn't fall into those categories.
American's attitude to work is so toxic. I am UK based, but a few months back I had to temporarily line manage a worker in our NY office. Both her parents were hospitalised with Covid and she didn't tell me for two weeks. When she did, she asked whether it would be possible to take her ENTIRE year's leave allocation (4 weeks) to care for them when they came home. I said "absolutely not, I'll sign you off on compassionate leave- take as long as you need". She literally didn't understand what I meant. She asked me whether she would lose her job if she went away for a few weeks and I got a contractor in to cover her work! She asked me if she would need to pay the company back for the cost of her cover- because apparently even that is a thing in the US!!!! She was reluctant to take it because she assumed she would be unpaid!!". Absolute madness that Americans have internalised all those things as normal workplace practices!
That guy who claimed that Japan has a high fertility rate is making stuff up. Their birthrate is way below replacement levels because young women don't want to be stuck at home raising children all alone while their husbands work insane hours.
Total truth, Japan has a low birth rate, a high aging population and high suicide rate as well. More work equals less joy!
Load More Replies... More experience doesn't equal BETTER experience. The key to progression in any career is finding opportunities to learn and grow. Getting involved in projects and areas of a business helps you build skills, but it also gives you visibility. Slogging away doing 25% more of the same thing you do the other 5 days of the week is not going to help you progress in any way at all. All it will do is narrow your experience, sap your time and energy away from learning new things, and most likely result in the actual important people in the company treating you with the contempt that is due to a pathetic, pliable, wage slave.
DO NOT DO THIS.. Because you will change career paths. YOu may think you won't, but you will. Financial circumstances, physical ones, random market trends, or personal choice when that dream career starts to give you nightmares. I'm 50. I stayed in "medicine", but I never went into practice with my MD after all. And that's fine. Hubby planned one career, is on his third, and adores this one. Don't get STUCK! Please!
To give your life to your work is a good way to end up burned out, sick and disapointed. Money and career are not the secret of a happy and fullfilling life. Also, one of the most luxurious things anyone can have is time. Time for your loved ones. Time for see the beauty on our earth. Time to help others. Time for things that matters on a deeper level then your wallet.
If you're trying to build a career, without any experience, and you love the work, then I agree with her. The sooner you start, the easier your life will be later on. IF it's something you can see your self doing long term. Or even to build up your retirement account. I wish I had someone to teach me what I know now. Everyone has their own path. If you're starting your own company, then you have to be prepared to put in the long hours until you get profitable. I would rather work weekends towards a career getting paid,then end up with hundreds of thousands of dollars in student debt. Unfortunately, I was a single mom of 4, because my husband told me if I left him, I would never see a dime in child support. He legit left the damn country, that was 20yrs ago. I did almost 100 hour work weeks just to survive and support my kids. If you don't have kids, or any other obligations, start your retirement account, pick someone's brain who's awesome at investments. Retire young!
Sorry to hear about your ex. But you had to work those long hours not to meet a craving for a career but to feed your family. Totally agree about invest in retiring 100% my biggest regret
Load More Replies... I don't know about this article, making yourself ill for any business even your own makes zero sense. Working hard to set yourself up in life does. I work in the medical profession so weekend, Christmas etc is standard working but burn out is real. No job is worth your health or years of your life. So many of my patients were going to travel and do new things when they retired and are to sick to do them.
When young a stupid I worked a lot of evenings and the occasional weekend. Found out two things: They just kept piling on work and others who worked the regular hours got the same pay and less work. Then one day I came in about ten minutes late and got 'spoken to' about my tardiness. Fine. No more evenings and weekends unless it was an emergency and I got overtime. Still young but no longer stupid.
at one point working on weekends and evenings ruined my personal life, health, gave major burn out and led to melt down. That is in any way not healthy at all, will ruin your life... balance and boundaries, balance and boundaries. Love yourself and your family in a first place.
If you want a career, you need to figure out specifically what career that is, what are the best qualifications/training to have for it, and where the opportunities are. Then you work hard. Weekends won't make any damned difference, except to set you up for confusing time invested with rewards. However, most people don't stay in one career now, and most people don't know what they want to do with their professional lives until they are already living it, so the working weekends advice makes even less sense.
You shouldn't have to sacrifice your own living to make a living that you can't even enjoy. The system is broken.
Out of interest, do you think people are badly paid or want to much luxury so we want what we don't need?
Load More Replies...
It worked for me, but I wouldn't give that advice to someone else. The people who want to give up weekends early in their career don't need you to give them this advice and the people who don't want to do this will think you are absolutely insane for even thinking it. You do you, Let me do me.
I have traveled to 48 countries and have/ will continue to have an amazingly fulfilling life and I DO NOT work weekends. At the end of your life the money you made cannot be taken with you. For me enjoying my life means I'm not a cog in the machine 24/7/365. If that works for you great but there is definitely more to life. I work to live not live to work.
Unpopular opinion: find a company that you are proud to work for, that values your contribution, and expects you to work appropriate hours for appropriate pay. HR person here; companies like this are out there. If you're working for the right company, you'll find a decent balance in work and life; sometimes work will be more, sometimes life will be more. You may have to pay your dues a bit early in your career, but with diligence, you'll find the right company. Makes all the difference in the world.
Why would this be an unpopular opinion? Plain common sense if you ask me
Load More Replies... This young woman admittedly made herself physically ill by over-working and she sees that as a worthy trade-off? I would question her mental health as well. Obviously she is not working smartly, just working more. I wonder what she is trying to avoid?
Nah. I worked a ton of hours at my first job as a twenty something because I thought that way. Still got thrown away like a used Kleenex when I hurt my hand at work. The moment my physical therapy was over, I lost my job. The only time it makes sense to work weekends is if you're your own boss and building your business. If you're working for someone else, they need to pay you for every minute you work.
No. If you can't do a good job during the week, don't make it worse by spending more time doing a crap job.
If I'm allowed to make a cultural observation without being accused of being racist, notice how the opinions about working more are those of a typically socialist country (who value teamwork and groupthink mentality), while the capitalists (who favor individualism) are the ones denouncing the idea. Not sure what my point is, just an observation.
And unless it is YOUR company, they(the company) will see clear to remove the now overpaid employee as soon as that child requires a bit more of your attention, rest assured.
People are lazy as f**k and think they should have everything by doing nothing extra.
Of maybe some people think they should do what they're paid for and if you want extra pay for it? Just a thought
Load More Replies...
"Hey pandas, what do you think?" I honestly can't put what I think, mostly because the censors are already a bit heavy handed, but mostly because even if they weren't what I think is probably unpublishable on ANY site.
How about learning to express yourself without throwing around insults then?
Load More Replies... I definitely definitely disagree.... it's not about how much time free time you have... you create a pattern at a workplace and it's difficult to take it back! It won't be appreciated all the time and you know what you are doing? Making it difficult for the next generations! I can't even count how many employers have asked me to work more, to work on weekends, to work without days off, you know why? Because there was a worker before me that used to do that! No! My free time is valuable and i don't give it away for more experience that's just the cheese on the trap! Don't do that it's not worth it and it doesn't make you more productive anyway and there are plenty of studies that prove that!
And they expect to not pay you overtime, which in the US is technically illegal but they don't tell employees that. Fortunately for me (unfortunately for a former employer), I did know. Got my OT after I'd quit, and no regrets. You want me there extra? PAY ME. Otherwise it's eroding the rights of workers, and encouraging the idea that "career" equals "identity"....
Load More Replies... I think she's confusing desire vs effort. Working weekends because you think you need to (or because the workload is so high that you have to) is much different than working weekends because you love the job or believe in the company and want to make it successful. And there's no guarantee that hard work will pay off -- one of my first jobs was at an internet startup -- I worked a *lot* of extra hours, but the work was fun and enjoyable, and I ended up socializing a lot with my coworkers, so I wasn't really missing out on social interactions), but that company ended up running out of money and going out of business, so all of that hard work was for nothing... but I don't regret it, that was one of my most fun jobs.
Hear hear. I’ve bosses who had “drive.” Really it was more of a compulsion for busyness. They worked long hours and liked to see other people working long hours but we never got ahead of the curve and there was never interest in making things efficient—it was like they measured productivity by how quickly our tires spun in the mud, and not by the speed of our forward direction.
Load More Replies... I was told by someone that constantly working outside of your set hours demonstrates that you're not able to manage your time properly. I think people also need to realise that what motivates or is viewed as success by one person is not necessarily the same in everyone - and that's perfectly alright
^^^ This. I had a coworker years ago who worked evenings and weekends and sneered at the rest of us for going home at 5:00. But he did almost no work during the actual working day, preferring to talk/rant non-stop about his pet peeves. He literally never shut up, so of course he had to come in on weekends to get his projects finished.
Load More Replies... I work every single weekend on purpose. My "weekend" is either tuesday/wednesday or wednesday/thursday. Two days off in a row mid week is a thousand times better than saturday/sunday. Plus i don't have to take extra days in order to make appointments for things.
Used to work shifts. Hated the suspicious looks from retirees. Love weekend social hobbies.
Load More Replies... Someone who by her own words worked herself into early onset diabetes.
Load More Replies... It's great to work for a good-paying career, but there's a fine line between working hard for something and spending your entire life working. All the people I know who worked every weekend and said you should work on weekends all the time either got burnt out, are stressed out all the time, or are self-medicating with drugs and alcohol. I've not met a single person who ignored breaks who didn't fall into those categories.
American's attitude to work is so toxic. I am UK based, but a few months back I had to temporarily line manage a worker in our NY office. Both her parents were hospitalised with Covid and she didn't tell me for two weeks. When she did, she asked whether it would be possible to take her ENTIRE year's leave allocation (4 weeks) to care for them when they came home. I said "absolutely not, I'll sign you off on compassionate leave- take as long as you need". She literally didn't understand what I meant. She asked me whether she would lose her job if she went away for a few weeks and I got a contractor in to cover her work! She asked me if she would need to pay the company back for the cost of her cover- because apparently even that is a thing in the US!!!! She was reluctant to take it because she assumed she would be unpaid!!". Absolute madness that Americans have internalised all those things as normal workplace practices!
That guy who claimed that Japan has a high fertility rate is making stuff up. Their birthrate is way below replacement levels because young women don't want to be stuck at home raising children all alone while their husbands work insane hours.
Total truth, Japan has a low birth rate, a high aging population and high suicide rate as well. More work equals less joy!
Load More Replies... More experience doesn't equal BETTER experience. The key to progression in any career is finding opportunities to learn and grow. Getting involved in projects and areas of a business helps you build skills, but it also gives you visibility. Slogging away doing 25% more of the same thing you do the other 5 days of the week is not going to help you progress in any way at all. All it will do is narrow your experience, sap your time and energy away from learning new things, and most likely result in the actual important people in the company treating you with the contempt that is due to a pathetic, pliable, wage slave.
DO NOT DO THIS.. Because you will change career paths. YOu may think you won't, but you will. Financial circumstances, physical ones, random market trends, or personal choice when that dream career starts to give you nightmares. I'm 50. I stayed in "medicine", but I never went into practice with my MD after all. And that's fine. Hubby planned one career, is on his third, and adores this one. Don't get STUCK! Please!
To give your life to your work is a good way to end up burned out, sick and disapointed. Money and career are not the secret of a happy and fullfilling life. Also, one of the most luxurious things anyone can have is time. Time for your loved ones. Time for see the beauty on our earth. Time to help others. Time for things that matters on a deeper level then your wallet.
If you're trying to build a career, without any experience, and you love the work, then I agree with her. The sooner you start, the easier your life will be later on. IF it's something you can see your self doing long term. Or even to build up your retirement account. I wish I had someone to teach me what I know now. Everyone has their own path. If you're starting your own company, then you have to be prepared to put in the long hours until you get profitable. I would rather work weekends towards a career getting paid,then end up with hundreds of thousands of dollars in student debt. Unfortunately, I was a single mom of 4, because my husband told me if I left him, I would never see a dime in child support. He legit left the damn country, that was 20yrs ago. I did almost 100 hour work weeks just to survive and support my kids. If you don't have kids, or any other obligations, start your retirement account, pick someone's brain who's awesome at investments. Retire young!
Sorry to hear about your ex. But you had to work those long hours not to meet a craving for a career but to feed your family. Totally agree about invest in retiring 100% my biggest regret
Load More Replies... I don't know about this article, making yourself ill for any business even your own makes zero sense. Working hard to set yourself up in life does. I work in the medical profession so weekend, Christmas etc is standard working but burn out is real. No job is worth your health or years of your life. So many of my patients were going to travel and do new things when they retired and are to sick to do them.
When young a stupid I worked a lot of evenings and the occasional weekend. Found out two things: They just kept piling on work and others who worked the regular hours got the same pay and less work. Then one day I came in about ten minutes late and got 'spoken to' about my tardiness. Fine. No more evenings and weekends unless it was an emergency and I got overtime. Still young but no longer stupid.
at one point working on weekends and evenings ruined my personal life, health, gave major burn out and led to melt down. That is in any way not healthy at all, will ruin your life... balance and boundaries, balance and boundaries. Love yourself and your family in a first place.
If you want a career, you need to figure out specifically what career that is, what are the best qualifications/training to have for it, and where the opportunities are. Then you work hard. Weekends won't make any damned difference, except to set you up for confusing time invested with rewards. However, most people don't stay in one career now, and most people don't know what they want to do with their professional lives until they are already living it, so the working weekends advice makes even less sense.
You shouldn't have to sacrifice your own living to make a living that you can't even enjoy. The system is broken.
Out of interest, do you think people are badly paid or want to much luxury so we want what we don't need?
Load More Replies... It worked for me, but I wouldn't give that advice to someone else. The people who want to give up weekends early in their career don't need you to give them this advice and the people who don't want to do this will think you are absolutely insane for even thinking it. You do you, Let me do me.
I have traveled to 48 countries and have/ will continue to have an amazingly fulfilling life and I DO NOT work weekends. At the end of your life the money you made cannot be taken with you. For me enjoying my life means I'm not a cog in the machine 24/7/365. If that works for you great but there is definitely more to life. I work to live not live to work.
Unpopular opinion: find a company that you are proud to work for, that values your contribution, and expects you to work appropriate hours for appropriate pay. HR person here; companies like this are out there. If you're working for the right company, you'll find a decent balance in work and life; sometimes work will be more, sometimes life will be more. You may have to pay your dues a bit early in your career, but with diligence, you'll find the right company. Makes all the difference in the world.
Why would this be an unpopular opinion? Plain common sense if you ask me
Load More Replies... This young woman admittedly made herself physically ill by over-working and she sees that as a worthy trade-off? I would question her mental health as well. Obviously she is not working smartly, just working more. I wonder what she is trying to avoid?
Nah. I worked a ton of hours at my first job as a twenty something because I thought that way. Still got thrown away like a used Kleenex when I hurt my hand at work. The moment my physical therapy was over, I lost my job. The only time it makes sense to work weekends is if you're your own boss and building your business. If you're working for someone else, they need to pay you for every minute you work.
No. If you can't do a good job during the week, don't make it worse by spending more time doing a crap job.
If I'm allowed to make a cultural observation without being accused of being racist, notice how the opinions about working more are those of a typically socialist country (who value teamwork and groupthink mentality), while the capitalists (who favor individualism) are the ones denouncing the idea. Not sure what my point is, just an observation.
And unless it is YOUR company, they(the company) will see clear to remove the now overpaid employee as soon as that child requires a bit more of your attention, rest assured.
People are lazy as f**k and think they should have everything by doing nothing extra.
Of maybe some people think they should do what they're paid for and if you want extra pay for it? Just a thought
Load More Replies... "Hey pandas, what do you think?" I honestly can't put what I think, mostly because the censors are already a bit heavy handed, but mostly because even if they weren't what I think is probably unpublishable on ANY site.
How about learning to express yourself without throwing around insults then?
Load More Replies...
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